


Haunting Rain

by Walkinthegarden



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, House Stark, King Robb, Princess Sansa, Robb Lives, Survivor Guilt, The King in The North
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-04-14
Packaged: 2018-03-22 23:06:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3746962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Walkinthegarden/pseuds/Walkinthegarden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Winterfell has always been haunting when it rains, perhaps because it rains so infrequently. Years ago, the five Stark children would run to the windows to see the droplets fall. Now, one Stark is left, and he stands in the window of a childhood bedroom. He gazes out into the rain, his jaw set firm as he listens to the tap of the water against the glass.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Haunting Rain

Winterfell has always been haunting when it rains, perhaps because it rains so infrequently. Years ago, the five Stark children would run to the windows to see the droplets fall. Now, one Stark is left, and he stands in the window of a childhood bedroom. He gazes out into the rain, his jaw set firm as he listens to the tap of the water against the glass.

 

A woman comes out of the shadows, her long gray dress dragging against the stone behind her. “You still mourn her,” she says to the man.

 

Not a muscle twitches. He does not turn to look at the woman, nor does she step any closer to him. They remain frozen in place.

 

“I thought they were just dreams,” he whispers after a long moment, angry tears pooling in his eyes as he snarls, “ _punishments_ by the gods for my sins. But they were real, every horrible thing I saw was real.”

 

“It was not your fault,” she tries to assure him, but he barks out angrily, still not turning to face her.

 

“It _was_ my fault! _I_ allowed them to keep her. What kind of brother… what kind of _King_ does that make me? I saved the North, but at what cost?” He clenches his teeth, the tears threatening to spill as he continues to gaze out the window.

 

“You protected your people…”

 

“To what end? My mother released the Kingslayer anyway, I could have… saved her from more pain. She was my _sister_ , one of my closest companions, and I allowed her to die. I _knew_ what my refusal would do and still I allowed it. When she was merely a babe, I stood over her cradle and I swore to all the gods that I would never allow any harm to come to her. Every promise I ever made to her was a lie.” His anger dies away, leaving only his sadness.

 

“You did what you had to,” his wife insists. He knows she believes it.

 

“My sister is dead. I am responsible. Do not dare ask me to forgive my guilt when no forgiveness is due,” he says, turning to face her with forlorn eyes. He looks into her own saddened eyes, desperate to make him happy, but she does not understand. She stood at his side in the war, but she lost nothing while he lost everything. His father, mother, sisters, and even his brothers who succumbed to fever only months after their return.

 

He walks passed his wife, out the door of his sister’s childhood room. If he looks back, he knows he will see her, clear as the day she left, sitting on her bed with a needle in her hand and a handkerchief in the other.

 

When he closes his eyes, he can hear her scream.


End file.
